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Overprint Preview

File Preparation Guidelines

What is overprint preview, and why is it important?

Have you ever opened a PDF file, and the colors are inaccurate or missing? Before you panic, check your settings to make sure that overprint preview is turned on in your Adobe Acrobat. Overprinting happens when a file is designed utilizing two or more colors to create a third color instead of knocking out the bottom layers. In order to view the print output of this effect on-screen, overprint preview has to be turned on. If the file has any spot colors and/or transparency blending effects, it is very important that overprint preview is turned on to accurately view any mixing of transparencies with spot colors. We highly recommend that your settings always default to overprint preview on. By turning overprint preview on, you are automatically changing the settings to high-resolution display as well.

To check and update your settings, follow the steps below:
Download the file at the bottom of this page to test your settings.

Acrobat Reader/Standard x/Pro
On a PC:
Go to Edit > Preferences
Select Page Display.
Under “Page Content and Information”, the “Use Overprint Preview” dropdown menu, confirm or change to be set to Always.

On a Mac:
Go to Acrobat > Preferences > Page Display
Under “Page Content and Information”, the “Use Overprint Preview” dropdown menu, confirm or change to be set to Always.

Additional Tools in Acrobat Pro:
Go to View > Tools > Print Production
A side bar will appear on the right of the screen. Double click on "Output Preview". In the window that pops up, check Simulate Overprint.
To see the difference between the two views, toggle between checked and unchecked.

We hope this has been helpful. Adobe Acrobat is always making changes, so check back here for updates. If you have any more questions, we are here to help.
Email us: connect@hatteras.us